kiss me underneath the mistletoe
by auslly-is-adorkable
Summary: All Austin's little cousin, Liz wants for Christmas is Austin and Ally together.


I saw some people requesting Auslly Christmas one-shots on Twitter and this probably isn't what you want but I hope you enjoy it anyway. follow me rauramas!

Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

Disclaimer: I don't own Austin & Ally because if I did, let's just say we wouldn't be on-screen kiss deprived anymore.

* * *

"_it's the most beautiful time of the year_"

It's her favourite time of year. Christmas. When it got a little chillier in Miami and she could on light sweaters without finding it suffocatingly hot outside. When she got to decorate Sonic Boom and her home with lots of festive things, like a tree and ornaments and garland. Last year she actually went to Austin's house with Dez and decorated with him and his family. The day began with the boys trimming the tree with Austin's little cousin, Elizabeth, while Ally, Mimi and Austin's aunt Molly baked cookies.

It's not a day anyone would forget, and Ally remembers it with great clarity.

_It was late that Saturday morning, and school had just let out for the break the day before. Ally had just gotten to Austin's house and Dez had slept over so was already there. Trish couldn't come unfortunately, as she had plans to get fired from the skating rink. She was greeted at the door by Austin, who immediately took her jacket and hugged her briefly, to which she was taken aback by his generosity._

_"It's chilly today," she says while finding a seat on the couch. _

_"One of the coldest days this year," Mimi calls from the open-concept kitchen._

_Austin plops down in front of her on the foot rest. "Molly and Liz are coming today," he explains. Ally's eyes light up._

_"Is Liz the little girl you told me about?" she wonders, tucking her feet under her on the cushion. She rests her chin in her hands._

_Austin nods. "Yep. She's like a little sister. She's the only girl that bosses me around except my mom," he laughs._

_"And Ally," Dez says pointedly from his spot at the island in the kitchen._

_Austin glares at him. "Okay, Dez." Ally giggles. "Anyway, she's excited to meet you."_

_"She is?" Ally asks incredulously. "Why?"_

_"I've told her about you before," he says._

_"Lots," Dez mumbles under his breath._

_"Awe, Austin," Ally gushes. "That's sweet. When will they be here?"_

_"Actually, any-" The door bell chimes. "Minute."_

_She laughs._

_"Honey, will you get that?" Mimi asks._

_Liz is the sweetest little girl Ally has ever met. She's cute and funny. And sassy. She's helping the boys right now while they decorate the tree. Ally is in the kitchen baking gingerbread with the women. She can hear Austin and Liz's conversation though._

_"Austin," Liz says mindlessly, hanging tinsel on the tree. "I like Ally."_

_She blushes. Austin chuckles. "That's good, Lizzie," he says. "I like her too."_

_"I'm glad she's your best friend."_

_He looks at Ally and smiles, not knowing that she's listening. She smiles back. He leans down to his cousin's level and looks her in the eye. "Me too."_

_She beams at him._

_Ally grins to herself. "Ally?" Mimi says to her gently. She looks up, startled. "I'm going to show Molly the gifts I got for the kids, okay? Do you mind taking the cookies out when they're done?"_

_She nods vigorously. "Of course! Go ahead." They head upstairs then, giggling about Mimi's gift for Mike._

_"Austin?" Liz asks again. "What are you getting Ally for Christmas?"_

_He thinks for a moment. "It's a secret," he smirks._

_"Please, please, _please _tell me! I can keep a secret," she begs. He sighs, amused and whispers something in to her ear. "Ooh, she'll like that." She giggles._

_"I want to know," Dez whines._

_"Sorry Dez, it's a secret," Liz says matter-of-factly._

_It takes all of her strength not to double over in laughter at the six year old, but Ally manages. She can see Austin holding his laughter too. She turns to wash the dishes from the cookies and smiles to herself._

_"Austin?"_

_"Yes, Lizzie?"_

_"Are you going to ask Ally out?"_

_Ally's hand slips on the blade of the knife she was holding as Liz says that. She couldn't believe she just asked that. "Ouch," she yelps, dropping it and squeezing her thumbs as it bleeds. She turns to see Austin as he drops the string of lights and runs to her side._

_"Are you okay?"_

_"I think so," she breathes. The pain twinges in her thumb. "Jeez, it hurts though." She winces as he takes her hand from her and leads her to the sink, where he gently runs the wound under cool water. She bites her lip as the water irritates her skin. "Ow," she cries softly, squirming._

_His grip tightens on her. "It's okay, you're okay," he soothes. "What were you doing?"_

_"I was just trying to wash the dishes," she says defensively._

_"Have you never washed a dish before?" he teases. She sticks her tongue out him playfully as he wraps the cut in a bandage._

_Liz looks from the two of them to Dez and takes his hand. He brings himself down to her level while watching them himself. "They're perfect for each other," she whispers._

_"I know that, Liz, and you know that. But they don't know that," he whispers, grinning._

_"I think they do know that. I think they're afraid."_

_He looks back at Liz and then to them again, noticing how she looks up at him and he looks down to her, how they look really happy. "Maybe you're right."_

* * *

This year, she was at Austin's again, hoping he has long since forgotten last year's incident. She was excitedly waiting for Liz and Molly to arrive. Austin had the tree out and the lights pre-strung – he learned from experience that it's easier without a six-year old trying to help. Trish still wasn't there because of some weird turn of events, but Dez was again.

The door rings, and Austin and Ally answer it expectantly. In precisely two seconds, the little girl bolts in to Austin's arms and he lifts her up happily. Ally hugs them from the front and takes Liz to the living room. "Hey there," she says. "How has your year been?"

"Good, Ally," Liz tells her. "I have a boyfriend."

Austin pipes up. "Whoa, whoa whoa," he says, deliberately amping up the protective relative thing. He holds his laughter. "Who is this boyfriend? Does he drive?"

Molly and Mimi are giggling from the door. "No, Austin, he doesn't drive. He's seven, silly. We don't drive," Liz says, exasperated.

"Okay, well I still want to have a talk with him," Austin winks.

"Okay, okay," Mimi says. "Let's decorate! Ally, you can help the boys if you want," she smiles.

"Sure, Mimi, thanks!" Ally grins.

* * *

It's two hours later, and Austin had just held Liz above the tree as she put the angel on top. Mimi and Molly took pictures and a video for Mike to see when he returned home. Every year, he went down to see his mother before Christmas, and never saw the house get decorated. Molly is a single parent, and always spends time with Austin's family around this time.

"I need to talk to Dez," Liz says abruptly, pulling the tall redhead to the kitchen. Austin and Ally look at each other and shrug. She tugs him along. He lifts her to the island so she can sit at... relatively the same height as him. He looks at her questioningly. "Are they together yet?"

"Who? Austin and Ally?" he asks.

"Yes."

"No."

"Why _not_?!"

"I don't know, kiddo," he laughs.

She hops down and goes to the others. "I forgot to write a letter to Santa," she explains. "Can I do it so we can send it?"

"Of course!" Ally enthuses. "I have a pen, do you have paper Austin?"

"Probably," he says, heading to a closet near the stairs. Liz settles down at the coffee table and waits. He brings her a sheet and sits beside Ally on the arm rest. Dez sits across from Liz and writes one of his own.

"Are you guys going to write a letter?" she asks Austin and Ally.

"Oh uh," Austin says.

"We already sent them," Ally explains smoothly.

"Oh," she smiles.

* * *

"Can you take mine and Dez's letter to Santa to the box office? I want to make you guys a present," she says. "And I can't drive," she giggles. Austin opens his mouth to say something. "And neither can my boyfriend." He closes his mouth and snickers.

"Okay," he says. "We'll be back soon," Ally laughs.

They wave to the rest of them and get in to Austin's car. As they pull away, Ally weighs the letters. "Wow," she observes. "Her's is long."

"She writes big though," he reasons.

"True, but it's still pretty lengthy."

"What did she ask for?" he asks, curious. He turns down the street.

"I don't know, I'm not reading it," she says pointedly.

"Why not?" he pouts.

"Because it's private, Austin," she says, chuckling.

"Fine," he says, parking near the building. It was a short drive to the post office, thankfully. "I'll read it." He takes it from her, ignoring her protests.

"Come on, Austin."

"No," he laughs. He clears his throat and begins. "_Dear Santa, I hope your Christmas is mary and that Misses Claus bakes you nice cookies. I know that your job is to deliver toys, but for Christmas I want you to deliver love. I beleve that you can do anything, and I know that you can do this. So please, for Christmas, I want you to bring my cousin Austin true love._"

Ally grins. "Aw," she gushes. "She's so cute."

Austin laughs, both at Liz's wish and at her spelling mistakes. "She sure is." He continues. "_I want him and his best friend to fall in love. Her name is Ally._"

They look at each other and away quickly. There's an awkward silence for a while. "Read more," she whispers moments later, averting his gaze.

He sighs and reads on. "_I think that they already love eachother, but dont know it. And Dez told me that he wants them together to. Dez is Austin's friend but I think I am smarter then him. Dont tell him that though. For Christmas Santa I want you to make Austin and Ally relize there true feelings for eachother. I know in my heart that they are ment to be together, but I need them to know it to. Please Santa, if your really magical, use it to give them the best present ever. Give them love. Mary Christmas! P.S. I would also like an Austin doll, because I have a doll that looks like Ally and I can get them married. P.P.S. And maybe a pink dress. Oh and make sure you read Dez's letter. Because even though he's 17 he's still a kid and needs a good Christmas. Love Lizzie (that's what Austin calls me)_"

Ally was tearing up. "Even though she shouldn't have written that, uh.. It's still the cutest thing in the world," she says.

"It really is."

He gets out silently and runs in to mail the letters. Ally collects herself and the ride home is silent.

When they get back inside, the smell of cookies and eggnog is heavy and welcoming. "I think I'm going to go, guys," Ally tells them. "I had fun, thanks for having me again."

"You're leaving?" Austin asks, shocked. Even though things were a little awkward between them he never begged her as one to leave.

"Yeah, I should probably get back to the store."

"Oh... Well let me at least walk you out."

"Okay," she says.

Liz starts giggling with Dez for a second and Ally is confused. She dismisses it quickly though because she wants to get out of there. She and Austin stand by the door awkwardly for a moment. "So, uh, thanks," she says, smiling shyly.

"No, thank you," he insists.

"I-"

"Look!" Liz shouts. "You're under the mistletoe!"

They look up suddenly, surprised, both of them instantly turning red.

"Uh," Austin says, shuffling his feet.

"Rules are rules," Mimi says, Molly convulsing in giggles.

"But we-"

"Kiss!" Dez shouts, cutting Ally off.

They look at each other for a moment, Austin and Ally, and then they _see_ each other. He sees her eyes, the depth and the warm inside them, and he sees her vulnerability. He felt it in the car after reading the letter. He notices she's picked up another nervous habit, and has moved from chewing her hair to chewing her lip. He sees how her eyes glisten as they reflect the Christmas tree lights. He sees her fully, and he knows that what Liz said was true. He already loved her, but he was scared.

And she sees him. She sees how his eyes are happy, even if he doesn't look very happy now, because he has so many reasons to smile. And she notices how he runs his hand through his hair when he's nervous. She notices that his lips are always turned up, like they're getting ready to grin, or open for a laugh that always melts her heart. She sees the realization in his eyes and she knows. She understands that Liz was right. That she already loved him, but she was scared.

"Seriously Austin, just kiss her," Liz says impatiently.

And this time, they weren't nervous. He smiles, one of the brightest smiles she's seen from him today, and he pulls her close, his arms tight around her back. She leans up and wraps her arms around his shoulders, and their lips lock, and it's a sweet kiss, nothing spectacularly cliche. There weren't fireworks or butterflies. She certainly felt different though, a good different, because she felt their love pour into that kiss, all that it was, and it was wonderful. It was short, only a few seconds, and it wasn't deep. But it was emotional and connecting.

They pull away at once, looking at each other expectantly, trying desperately not to giggle.

"Ally, please stay," Liz says.

Ally looks from Austin to Liz back to him again and smiles. "I guess I could stay for a little bit."

And they kiss once more, because it was real again, that spark from before.

Liz smiled widely at the couple and sent a silent prayer above. _Thank you, Santa._


End file.
